# Favorite Idioms **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 23, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497 "2011-10-23T02:00:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/21 "2011-10-27T08:30:34Z")
“Looks like he took the short bus to school.” ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/22 "2011-10-27T11:01:53Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > That one’s actually as “old as dirt” (I’ll do you a favor and not link to TVTropes). It goes back to some Babylonian general (IIRC, it’s been a long time since I read about it) who said “Kill them all. The Gods will recognize their own.” Which is, of course **my** favorite answer for the OP. Actually, it’s generally traced back to [Arnaud Amalric](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Amalricus), a papal legate during the Albigensian Crusade: > [@](#): > > According to the Cistercian writer Caesar of Heisterbach, one of the leaders of the Crusader army, at the siege of Béziers in 1209, when asked by a Crusader how to distinguish the Cathars from the Catholics, Arnaul Amalric supposedly answered: > > _Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius_ (Kill them all. For the Lord knoweth them that are His.) ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/23 "2011-10-27T11:39:57Z")
“Fell off the Ugly Tree and hit every branch on the way down.” “Dumb as a box of hammers.” “Strong as an ox, and half as smart.” ---
**Author:** ![Lilacs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Lilacs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lilacs)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/24 "2011-10-27T11:52:23Z")
“Let me pull that (or her) out of my ass for you.” When people want whatever it is RIGHT NOW. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/25 "2011-10-27T12:07:23Z")
“Half the people are dumber than average” – as a catch-all explanation for the omni-present question _ **"WHY?!?!?** did they do that?"_ ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/26 "2011-10-27T13:24:13Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > “Shoot them all and let God sort them out” > [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > That one’s actually as “old as dirt” (I’ll do you a favor and not link to TVTropes). It goes back to some Babylonian general (IIRC, it’s been a long time since I read about it) who said “Kill them all. The Gods will recognize their own.” Which is, of course **my** favorite answer for the OP. > [@Alessan](#): > > Actually, it’s generally traced back to [Arnaud Amalric](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Amalricus), a papal legate during the Albigensian Crusade: Whatever. I first heard it said by Marge Simpson. > [@Marge Simpson](#): > > Marge: Well, Bart, your uncle Arthur used to have a saying: “Shoot 'em all and let God sort 'em out.” Unfortunately, one day put his theory into practice. It took 75 federal marshals to bring him down. Now let’s never speak of him again. ---
**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/27 "2011-10-27T14:27:04Z")
You can’t polish a turd. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/28 "2011-10-27T14:31:32Z")
That’s gold plated bullshit! He’s so far in the closet he can see Narnia. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/29 "2011-10-27T15:42:30Z")
Why is a mouse when it spins? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/30 "2011-10-27T15:50:17Z")
“You’re the one fucking this chicken, I’m just here to hold the wings.” ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/31 "2011-10-27T16:09:47Z")
“Like monkeys fucking a football” “Could be worse” “What could possibly happen?” “Given a 50/50 chance, he’s wrong 100% of the time” “So far, so good” ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/32 "2011-10-27T16:34:32Z")
When someone is favoring a leg: “Got a catch in yer get-along?” Slicker than snot on a brass door knob. Ringy-er than a two-tailed coon. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/33 "2011-10-27T17:35:20Z")
It’s not a catch, it’s a ‘hitch in yer git along’, that’s how grampa said it anyways. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/34 "2011-10-27T17:45:21Z")
Cream isn’t the only thing that floats to the top. He’d fuck a snake if he could get somebody to hold its head. And my signature: ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/35 "2011-10-27T18:18:04Z")
When someone does something questionable… “As they always say, pick one thing and be the best at it!” …or… “She doesn’t just have issues, she has subscriptions.” ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/36 "2011-10-27T18:45:23Z")
Menstruating Christ! ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/37 "2011-10-27T18:57:47Z")
“Six of one, half a dozen of the other” “Machs Nichs” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/38 "2011-10-27T18:58:14Z")
The food was terrible and the portions were too small. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/39 "2011-10-27T19:27:12Z")
“Jesus Christ in a birchbark canoe.” ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/40 "2011-10-27T19:35:54Z")
My wonderfully Southern grandmother is a font of colorful expressions. Two I heard for the first time recently were (of someone with a large gap in his teeth) “He could bite a pumpkin through a picket fence.” and (of the small house my grandfather grew up in) “There wasn’t room to cuss a cat without getting a mouthful of hair.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497.md?page=3)